TRAGEDIES  IN  NEW  YORK'S  PUBLIC 

RECORDS 


BY 

VICTOR  HUGO  PALTSITS 


Reprinted  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical  Association 

for  1909,  pages  369-378 


WASHINGTON 
1911 


i£x  ICtbrts 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'thincj  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


TRAGEDIES  IN  NEW  YORK'S  PUBLIC 

RECORDS 


BY 


VICTOR  HUGO  PALTSITS 


Reprinted  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical  Association 

for  1909,  pages  369-378 


WASHINGTON 
1911 


TRAGEDIES  IN  NEW  YORK'S  PUBLIC  RECORDS. 


By  Victor  Hugo  Paltsits,  State  Historical  of  New  York. 


We  do  not  design  to  give  in  this  paper  a  complete  list  of  the 
dramatis  persona?  in  the  tragedy  of  New  York's  public  records;  Ror 
can  we  trace  every  assassination  of  these  records  to  its  source.  Any- 
thing like  elaboration  would  need  volumes  for  a  history  of  the  losses 
and  neglect  of  the  records  of  this  State  and  its  local  jurisdictions,  and 
such  an  account  is,  manifestly,  impossible  under  the  circumstances. 

Xor  is  it  necessary  or  pertinent  to  emphasize  to  this  audience — so 
well  informed  as  to  what  is  being  done  in  European  countries  and 
some  of  our  States — the  need  of  legislation  in  every  enlightened  com- 
monwealth for  safeguarding,  coordinating,  and  publishing  the  his- 
torical, economical,  sociological,  and  legal  sources  under  State  super- 
vision. We  have  time  merely  to  trip  lightly  over  this  vast  subject — 
to  point  out  instances  as  examples  and  to  characterize  conditions 
that  too  generally  prevail,  to  the  great  regret  of  scholars  and  the 
great  shame  of  the  State. 

In  the  treatment  of  archives  there  is  a  triune  function — preserva- 
tion, coordination,  and  publication.  In  other  words,  first  preserve 
the  records  against  theft,  fire,  damp,  or  wanton  destruction;  second, 
when  preserved  properly  in  each  department  of  every  city,  town, 
village,  and  hamlet,  and  in  the  State  by  the  State  departments,  the 
next  step  is  coordination  or  a  proper  scientific  classification,  together 
with  indexes  as  media  for  ready  accessibility ;  the  third  stage  follows 
naturally,  because  when  they  are  properly  preserved  and  classified, 
the  publication  is  easy  for  an  expert.  This  consummation  so  de- 
voutly to  be  wished  does  not  prevail  in  the  State  of  New  York;  in 
fact,  we  lag  far  behind  the  activities  in  the  principal  European  Gov- 
ernments and  the  conditions  in  quite  a  number  of  the  United  States. 
Yet,  New  York  is  called  the  "  Empire  State,"  and  our  State  arms 
bear  the  motto  "  Excelsior."  But  there  is  an  awakening  among  the 
students  of  history  in  this  State,  growing  out  of  a  world-wide  move- 
ment, which  will  bear  fruitage  and  make  for  the  proper  administra- 
tion of  public  archives  throughout  the  State  and  under  the  official 
direction  of  the  State. 

73885°— 11  24  .  369 


370 


AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


The  conscience  of  public  officials  is  too  often  blunt  in  relation  to 
inactive  materials  under  their  charge,  because  they  look  too  generally 
upon  their  records  from  the  standpoint  of  immediate  practical  use 
in  administration.  The  reason  why  so  much  has  been  lost  and  is 
now  being  neglected  or  destroyed  is  that  there  is  a  natural  tendency 
of  men  to  neglect  or  destroy  such  things  as  are  not  useful  to  them- 
selves, or  which  for  the  moment  seem  to  have  passed  their  usefulness. 
For  this  reason  every  enlightened  government  owes  it  to  itself  and 
posterity  to  enact  proper  laws  for  controlling  the  situation,  and 
should  intrust  the  prosecution  of  the  task  to  some  one  who  has  the 
instinct,  s}7mpathy,  conscience,  and  ability  to  grapple  with  it.  Time 
was  when  the  British  national  records  were  as  disgracefully  adminis- 
tered as  are  some  of  ours.   But,  says  Hubert  Hall : 

At  length  the  day  came  when  the  Government  ceased  to  haggle  over  the 
refitting  of  the  lofts  and  cellars,  the  tanks  and  stables,  which  had  become  the 
last  refuge  of  the  greatest  national  treasures  possessed  by  any  country  in  the 
world.  What  was  left  of  our  national  Archives  was  transferred  to  a  central 
repository,  and  we  began  to  count  our  losses.1 

Not  only  were  heavy  losses  detected,  after  centuries  of  neglect,  in 
the  national  archives,  but  it  was  found  that  the  local  records  had 
been  pillaged  by  enterprising  antiquaries,  and  that  much  of  the 
official  correspondence  of  the  nation  had  been  carried  off  by  suc- 
cessive ministers  to  their  own  estates.  More  than  half  a  century  ago 
the  British  conscience  found  a  corrective  for  these  abuses.  The  con- 
ditions which  Hall  portrays  have  found  their  counterpart  in  our  own 
national  and  State  archives;  only,  many  of  us  have  not  yet  dis- 
covered or  applied  the  corrective  for  preventing  these  abuses. 

It  is  true  that  the  State  of  New  York  has  not  been  wholly  derelict 
toward  the  State  records.  But  action  has  been  spasmodic  and  un- 
scientific— it  has  not  been  progressive  and  successive;  it  has  not 
been  systematic;  it  has  been  lacking  in  perspective.  For  the  local 
records  this  much  can  not  be  said — they  are  yet  in  penumbra;  but 
the  local  records  are  also  the  State's  title  deeds. 

J.  V.  N.  Yates,  as  secretary  of  state  of  New  York,  made  a  report 
to  the  legislature,  in  January,  1820,  relative' to  the  records,  etc.,  in 
his  office.2  This  was  in  obedience  to  two  concurrent  resolutions  of  the 
preceding  session  of  the  legislature,  which  directed,  among  other 
things,  that  certain  regulations  and  improvements  be  adopted  in  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  state  "  for  the  better  preservation  and 
security  of  the  public  records."   The  second  concurrent  resolution — 

was  directed  principally  to  the  preservation  and  arrangement  of  such  of  the 
records  as  concerned  the  claims  and  titles  of  this  State,  and  of  individuals,  to 

1  Hubert  Hall.  Studies  in  English  Official  Historical  Documents.  Cambridge,  1908, 
p.  7. 

2  No.  2.  In  Senate,  January  5,  1820.  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  [etc.],  informa- 
tion from  pp.  1-3,  32-39. 


CONFERENCE  OF  ARCHIVISTS. 


371 


lands  to  the  value  of  many  millions  of  dollars.  Of  this  description  were  the 
books  of  grants  or  patents,  of  deeds  and  of  mortgages,  the  field  books  and 
maps.  Many  of  these  books  were  rapidly  decaying,  the  binding  mutilated  and 
worn,  the  leaves  loose,  and  some  of  the  Indices  imperfect  and  incomplete.  Most 
of  the  field  books  were  in  pamphlet  form,  without  binding,  and  exposed  from 
that  circumstance  alone  to  injury  or  loss.  The  maps  had  suffered  much  by  lapse 
of  time ;  and  by  frequent  reference  and  use  many  of  them  were  torn,  and 
almost  all  of  them  required  to  be  cleansed,  repaired,  and  mounted. 

He  continues: 

As  the  value  and  importance  of  the  records  in  this  department  forbade  the 
idea  of  any  removal,  which  might  expose  them  to  fraud,  piracy,  or  accident,  it 
became  necessary  that  the  bookbinders  and  workmen  employed  should  conduct 
their  labors  in  the  record-room  in  this  office,  under  the  immediate  personal 
inspection  of  the  Secretary  and  of  his  deputy,  and  under  an  oath  well  and 
faithfully  to  discharge  the  trust  reposed  in  them. 

Accordingly,  skillful  bookbinders  were  engaged.  Some  of  the  books 
were  bound,  others  rebound,  others  again  merely  repaired  and  let- 
tered, and  several  were  permitted  to  remain  in  the  state  in  which 
they  were  originally  found.  The  field  books  were  reduced,  in  binding, 
to  a  comparatively  small  number;  the  maps  were  cleansed,  repaired, 
numbered,  and  mounted,  and  put  into  portfolios.  The  books  of 
patents,  deeds,  and  mortgages,  and  the  field  books  were  bound  sub- 
stantially; indexes  were  examined  and  corrected;  engrossed  colonial 
and  State  laws,  formerly  in  packets,  were  bound  up  in  volumes; 
general  alphabetical  indexes  were  made  to  all  the  patents,  deeds, 
field  books,  and  maps  in  the  office,  and  new  boxes  and  cabinets  were 
provided.  Mr.  Yates's  report  was  accompanied  by  a  short-title  cata- 
logue or  inventory  of  all  of  the  records  under  his  jurisdiction,  and  he 
also  supplied  an  appendix  in  which  he  gave  information  about  lost 
records,  and  of  his  endeavors  to  trace  some  of  them  in  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  He  said :  "  Several  important  and  much-to-be  re- 
gretted piracies  have  been  committed,  and  probably  at  a  very  early 
period,  on  the  records  in  this  office."  He  found  gaps  in  the  series  of 
grants  and  patents  under  the  Dutch  government,  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  director  general  and  council  during  the  Dutch  regime  and  in 
their  letter  books,  etc.  He  found  a  description  of  patents,  orders,  etc., 
that  Sir  Edmund  Andros  had  "  taken  away  for  very  improper  and 
reprehensible  purposes."  Some  of  them  found  their  way  back  to 
New  York,  but  others,  as  he  believed,  were  destroyed  by  the  direction 
of  Andros. 

On  March  18,  1741,  a  fire  occurred  "  in  the  roof  of  His  Majesty's 
house  at  Fort  George,  near  the  chapel,  consuming  the  house,  the 
chapel,  and  some  other  buildings  adjacent.  Most  of  the  public 
records  in  the  secretary's  office  were  fortunately  rescued  from  the 
flames."  It  is  evident  that  some  were  lost ;  but  no  account  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  disaster  has  been  noted. 


372 


AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


Yates  traces  the  history  of  the  removal  and  loss  of  records  during 
the  American  Revolution,  involving  the  transfer  of  some  to  the 
British  ships  Dutchess  of.  Gordon  and  Warwick,  and  the  seizure  of 
others  by  a  military  force  of  the  patriots.  Samuel  Bayard,  jr.,  as 
secretary,  reported  to  the  British  governor,  James  Robertson,  on 
April  9,  1788,  with  reference  to  records  in  the  possession  of  the 
British,  as  follows: 

That  the v books  when  received  were  in  very  bad  condition,  many  of  them 
much  mildewed  and  greatly  injured,  in  the  binding  particularly,  owing,  as  I 
apprehend,  to  their  having  been  a  long  time  on  shipboard  and  exposed  to  great 
damps,  but  as  far  as  I  have  discovered,  the  writing  is  yet  legible  or  in  very 
few  places  defaced.  I  have  used  my  best  endeavors  to  preserve  them,  having 
frequently  exposed  them  to  the  sun  and  air,  and  several  times  had  them  brushed 
through  every  leaf. 

The  records  in  British  hands  were  delivered  over  to  the  secretary 
of  state  soon  after  the  British  evacuation  of  New  York  City  and  were 
kept  in  that  city  until  1793,  when  they  were  removed  to  the  city  of 
Albany,  the  new  seat  of  government. 

The  first  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  exhibited  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  State  and  local  records.  On  March  23,  1778,  the 
senate  passed  a  resolution,  in  which  the  assembly  concurred  the  next 
day,  as  follows : 

That  the  Secretary  of  this  State  and  the  Clerks  of  the  several  Counties  in  the 
same  be  respectively  authorized  to  put,  or  cause  to  be  put,  the  Records  and 
Papers  belonging  to  their  respective  Offices  into  strong  and  light  Inclosures 
sufficient  to  exclude  Rain,  and  to  keep  or  cause  them  to  be  kept,  and  from  Time 
to  Time  to  be  removed  in  the  same,  respectively,  to  such  Place  and  Places,  as 
they  shall  severally  think  most  conducive  to  the  Security  of  such  Records  and 
Papers,  respectively. 

This  concurrent  resolution  also  made  provision  for  military  guards 
to  protect  the  records,  and  the  senate  said  it  would  concur  with  the 
house  in  passing  a  special  law  in  case  it  should  "be  necessary  to 
justify  the  carrying  of  this  Resolution  into  Execution."  1 

In  1817  one  William  Teller  mutilated  two  volumes  of  deeds  by 
tearing  out  several  leaves  and  substituting  fraudulent  conveyances 
in  their  stead.  He  was  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  in  1819.  This 
is  not  the  only  instance  of  piracy  and  fraud  to  which  the  records 
have  been  subjected.  Only  this  year  the  office  of  the  district  attorney 
of  New  York  County  reported  as  to  an  investigation  of  conditions  in 
the  special  sessions  and  charged  that  bills  were  padded  and  false 
entries  were  made  of  vouchers. 

By  chapter  120  of  the  laws  of  1881,  entitled  "An  act  concerning 
certain  records  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  and  of  the 
comptroller,"  certain  records,  documents,  and  files  were  transferred 


1  Senate  Votes  and  Proceedings.  Fish-Kill :  Samuel  Loudon,  1777,  p.  92 ;  Assembly 
Votes  and  Proceedings.    Kingston  :  John  Holt,  1777,  p.  90. 


CONFERENCE  OF  ARCHIVISTS. 


373 


to  the  custody  of  the  New  York  State  Library,  and  this  act  was 
amended  by  chapter  274  of  the  laws  of  1907,  by  which  more  manu- 
script materials  were  transferred  to  the  same  jurisdiction.  It  fol- 
lows, however,  that  sets  of  records  are  yet  separated,  and  the  same  is 
true  of  records  that  are  intimately  related.  The  idea  of  centraliza- 
tion is  embryonic  only.  It  is  questionable  whether  this  wholesale 
transfer  of  records  to  the  State  library  has  been  a  godsend.  For 
years  they  have  been  crowded  into  one  of  the  most  inadequate  rooms 
of  the  capitol,  with  only  one  crescent  window  swinging  on  a  pivot  as 
the  sole  avenue  of  natural  light  and  air,  and  subject  to  heat  and 
stuffiness.  All  the  while  these  priceless  records  have  been  in  this 
tomb  the  printed  books  and  pamphlets  of  the  library  have  been 
nursed  by  a  decimal  classification  and  all  the  other  paraphernalia  of 
modern  library  economy,  and  printed  genealogies  dwell  in  the  sump- 
tuous surroundings  of  a  $28,000,000  capitol.  It  is  true,  of  course, 
that  these  State  records  will  be  removed  in  a  couple  of  years  to  the 
new  State  education  building,  and  there  is  promise  that  more  ade- 
quate quarters  will  be  given  to  them  there  than  had  been  originally 
allotted  to  them  in  the  plans,  due,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe,  to  my 
campaign  on  behalf  of  the  public  records. 

The  lost  records  give  rise  to  serious  reflections  in  us.  There  are 
cases  in  which  we  must  depend  wholly  upon  some  printed  or  contem- 
porary or  later  transcript,  the  accuracy  of  which  can  no  longer  be 
ascertained  with  certainty,  because  the  original  is  either  lost,  mu- 
tilated, or  decayed  from  neglect.  Too  often  the  key  of  truth  has 
perished,  leaving  us  only  the  uncertain  premises  that  are  afforded  by 
incompleteness. 

In  1901  the  public  archives  commission  of  the  American  Historical 
Association  published  its  first  report,  and  the  bulk  of  it  was  a 
"  Report  on  the  Archives  and  Public  Records  of  the  State  of  New 
York  and  of  New  York  City,"  by  Dr.  Herbert  L.  Osgood.  A  pioneer 
etfort  under  private  auspices,  it  has  been  awarded  the  highest  praise, 
and  it  has  served  many  a  forlorn  student  as  a  guide.  Admittedly, 
it  is  far  from  complete  for  the  State.  It  says  to  the  State  and  the 
divisions  thereof:  "Here  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it."  This  report 
showed  that  records  were  found  in  frame  buildings  used  for  business 
purposes,  such  as  feed  stores,  glove  factories,  barber  shops,  and  fur- 
niture stores,  and  that  papers  were  kept  in  cellars  and  mildewed, 
in  wooden  cases,  in  wooden  desks,  loose  in  packing  boxes,  in  lofts  and 
garrets,  and  in  sheds  with  household  rubbish.  The  report  declares 
that  in  two  towns  of  Onondaga  County  the  masses  of  stored  manu- 
scripts were  deliberately  burned,  because  they  were  considered  a  use- 
less burden.  Yet  the  records  are  the  property  of  the  people,  and  as 
such  are  legally  and  theoretically  accessible  to  all.    Section  941  of 


374 


AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure  provides  for  the  introduction  as  evi- 
dence of — 

an  act,  ordinance,  resolution,  by-law,  rule,  or  proceeding  of  the  common  council 
of  a  city,  or  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  an  incorporated  village,  or  of  a  local 
board  of  health  of  a  city,  town,  or  incorporated  village,  or  of  a  board  of  super- 
visors, within  the  State  .  .  .  either  from  a  copy  thereof,  certified  by  the  city 
clerk,  village  clerk,  clerk  of  the  common  council,  clerk  or  secretary  of  the  local 
board  of  health,  or  clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors ;  or  from  a  volume  printed 
by  authority  of  the  common  council  of  the  city,  or  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
village,  or  the  local  board  of  health  of  the  city,  town,  or  village,  or  the  board  of 
supervisors.1 

All  of  these  provisions  are  presumptive  evidence  that  these  records 
are  supposed  to  be  well  preserved  and  in  an  accessible  manner. 

We  are  cognizant  of  cases  of  wanton  destruction,  of  "  borrowed  " 
records,  of  papers  lost  by  theft  or  through  carelessness.  A  few  may 
be  mentioned.  A  number  of  the  early  volumes  of  New  York  City 
Deeds  (conveyances,  mortgages,  etc.)  are  missing  from  the  register's 
office.  A  correspondent  of  ours  was  recently  informed  "  that  several 
volumes  disappeared  during  the  incumbency  of  the  last  register, 
while  the  office  was  at  160  Nassau  Street,  after  the  old  Hall  of  Rec- 
ords had  been  razed  and  before  the  new  building  was  ready  for  occu- 
pancy." In  the  summer  of  1908  there  was  returned  to  the  city  of 
New  York  a  volume  of  the  "  Minutes  of  the  Executive  Boards  of 
the  Burgomasters  of  New  Amsterdam,"  and  notarial  records  of 
Walewyn  van  der  Veen,  found  among  the  effects  of  the  late  Berthold 
Fernow  in  the  State  of  Maine.  This  material  was  not  included  in, 
although  a  part  of,  the  "  Records  of  New  Amsterdam,"  which  he  had 
edited  for  the  city.  No  doubt,  he  was  permitted  to  take  them  away 
for  temporary  use,  as  he  furnished  translations  to  private  auspices 
for  publication.2  It  is,  however,  a  curious  commentary  on  the  care- 
lessness of  administration  to  find  that  records  could  be  given  out 
and  remain  out  of  an  office  for  years  until  all  knowledge  or  record 
of  them  had  passed  from  memory. 

About  six  years  ago  a  bookseller,  now  of  Peekskill,  but  then  of 
New  York  City,  offered  in  his  catalogue  for  $500  the  following  item : 

Rough  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Common  Council,  1809  to  1831,  and  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  1831  to  1847.  Bound  in  61  volumes  of  varying  thickness, 
nearly  folio  in  form.  These  are  the  original  manuscript  minutes  of  these  two 
branches  of  the  city  government,  only  a  portion  of  which  have  ever  been 
printed.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  important  periods  of  the  War  of  1812, 
and  the  Mexican  War,  are  covered. 

As  soon  as  I  saw  the  item  in  the  catalogue,  I  recognized  that  this 
was,  indeed,  a  body  of  most  valuable  official  manuscripts,  to  which  my 

1  Chase  :  Code  of  Civil  Procedure.    New  York  1908. 

2  These  translations  were  printed  in  the  second  volume  of  Minutes  of  the  Orphan- 
masters  Court  of  New  Amsterdam.    New  York,  1907. 


CONFERENCE  OF  ARCHIVISTS. 


375 


attention  had  been  directed  several  years  before,  during  a  visit  to 
the  city  hall  of  New  York.  I  at  once  suggested  that  the  item  should 
be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Hon.  Seth  Low,  then  mayor,  which 
was  actually  done.  Mayor  Low  turned  the  case  over  to  his  corpora- 
tion counsel,  Mr.  George  L.  Rives,  who  made  the  usual  inquiries 
prior  to  an  execution  for  a  replevin.  The  bookseller,  in  his  next 
catalogue,  doubled  the  asking  price  to  $1,000,  and  added  these  words 
to  his  note: 

These  were  a  part  of  the  archives  of  the  city  of  New  York  till  some  one  with 
ample  authority  sold  them  to  a  junk  dealer  for  old  paper,  and  I  happening  to 
find  them  in  his  possession  in  process  of  being  packed  for  the  paper  mill,  they 
were  thus  rescued  from  oblivion.  Some  interested  person  called  the  city  officials' 
attention  to  the  fact  that  this  "  rubbish  "  had  value  above  old  paper  price,  and 
the  "junker"  was  asked  by  the  city  representatives  who  interviewed  him 
why  he  "  did  not  know  enough  to  send  them  to  the  paper  mills  and  have  done 
with  them?"  With  too  little  sense  to  buy  them  back  and  place  them  where 
they  belong  and  thus  cover  their  ignorance,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  place 
me  in  a  false  position,  because  I  had  sufficient  intelligence  at  command  to  be 
able  to  discern  gold  from  Dutch  metal.  I  can  give  a  clear  title  to  these  records, 
and  now  offer  them  for  sale  at  just  twice  the  price  they  were  originally  adver- 
tised at  by  me. 

In  February,  1909,  a  volume  of  the  court  records  of  Dutchess 
County,  from  May  18,  1753,  to  May  1,  1757,  comprising  20G  folio 
pages,  was  sold  by  a  New  York  auctioneer.  I  had  brought  the  item 
to  the  attention  of  persons  in  the  county  before  the  sale  took  place, 
but  the  person  who  represented  these  interests  at  the  sale  was  given 
a  limited  bid,  and  the  volume  was  secured  by  a  bookseller.  All 
reasonable  efforts  by  way  of  persuasion  having  failed  to  secure  the 
restoration  of  this  volume  by  the  bookseller,  the  grand  jury  has 
recently  been  requested  to  make  a  formal  demand  for  its  return. 

In  January,  1909,  the  New  York  State  Library  purchased  the 
original  minutes  of  the  town  of  Esperance,  Schoharie  County,  from 
the  erection  of  the  town  in  1846  to  November  10,  1881.  This 
volume  had  been  secured  by  a  gentleman  who  makes  a  business 
of  going  around  the  State  to  pick  up  old  books  and  manuscripts. 
It  was  one  of  several  rescued  by  him  just  as  they  were  to  be  fed 
to  a  bonfire. 

The  records  of  the  town  of  Ticonderoga,  as  a  local  correspondent 
informed  me,  were  burned  about  187-1. 

The  town  records  of  Norwich,  Chenango  County,  prior  to  1803, 
are  missing.  The  village  records  of  Norwich,  from  its  incorpora- 
tion in  1816  to  1843,  are  lost ;  the  village  and  town  records  of  Oxford, 
Chenango  County,  prior  to  1842,  are  lost  or  destroyed,  and  this  town 
was  formed  in  1793. 

A  lawyer  at  Rye  has  just  written  that  volume  A  of  the  records  of 
the  town  of  Rye,  Westchester  County,  which  was  in  the  town  clerk's 


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AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


office  in  1848,  when  Bolton  wrote  his  history  of  the  county,  dis- 
appeared subsequently,  and  could  not  be  found  in  1872,  when  Baird 
wrote  a  history  of  that  town.    He  says : 

It  was  reported  that  the  book  was  taken  by  a  person  to  suppress  certain 
records  which  would  prove  adverse  to  claims  that  he  had  set  up  in  some  litiga- 
tion. Nothing  was  known  to  a  certainty,  but  the  house  of  this  individual  has 
since  been  destroyed  by  fire. 

He  then  points  out  specific  disputes  over  rights  and  easements 
which  can  not  be  definitely  settled,  because  the  grants  were  all  in  this 
lost  volume.  Another  correspondent,  of  White  Plains,  in  the  same 
county,  has  given  information  that  the  earliest  town  minutes  of 
White  Plains  are  imperfect,  mutilated,  fraj^ed,  and  otherwise  in 
bad  shape.  He  also  adds :  "  Valuable  records  belonging  to  the  county 
of  Westchester  are  in  the  cellar  of  the  courthouse  unprotected,"  and 
speaks  of  others  that  "  are  in  an  unclassified  shape  in  the  basement 
of  the  Carnegie  Library,  not  a  fireproof  structure." 

Almost  all  of  the  local  records  of  the  town  of  Manlius,  one  of 
the  oldest  settled  towns  of  Onondaga  County,  were  lost  in  a  con- 
flagration about  1890 ; 1  all  the  early  records  of  the  town  of  Marcellus, 
in  the  same  county,  were  lost  by  fire  about  1830,2  and  those  of  the 
town  of  Van  Buren  were  in  part  lost  by  fire  in  1861,  and  this  town 
deliberately  burned  up  another  large  mass  in  1894.3  The  village 
records  of  Onondaga  County  are  kept  in  the  local  fire-department 
houses  or  lockups,  usually  of  frame  construction,  and  fire  has  wrought 
havoc  among  these  records. 

Prof.  Osgood  said  of  the  records  of  the  former  town  of  Bushwick, 
Long  Island,  that  "  no  trace  has  been  found,  though  the  opinion 
is  expressed  that  some  of  them  are  still  in  existence."  I  learned 
last  spring  from  a  correspondent  that  they  are  in  the  Long  Island 
Historical  Society,  and  extend  from  1660  to  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. Liber  13  of  conveyances  of  New  York  City  (1683  to  1687), 
and  Liber  18  (1687  to  1694)  have  disappeared  since  1900  from  the 
register's  office.  This  act  in  the  tragedy  is  almost  a  farce,  but  I 
believe  the  volumes  are  now  in  the  possession  of  a  historical  societj7, 
having  been  secured  quite  recentty.  The  organization  of  a  "  Hall  of 
Records  Association  "  in  New  York  City,  by  members  of  the  Bar 
Association,  Real  Estate  Exchange,  Board  of  Trade  and  Transpor- 
tation, and  others,  has  brought  to  fruition  the  stately  new."  Hall  of 
Records  "  in  this  city.  Just  a  year  ago  there  was  considerable  agita- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Bar  Association  of  the  city  of  New  York  in 
relation  to  the  delay  in  centralizing  the  scattered  records  in  the  new 
building.  A  few  }^ears  ago  truck  loads  of  the  mayor's  records  were 
taken  out  of  a  dungeon  in  the  City  Hall  and  sent  to  the  Lenox 

1  Osgood"s  Report,  p.  154.  2  Ibid.,  p.  155.  3  Ibid.,  p.  159. 


CONFERENCE  OF  ARCHIVISTS. 


377 


Library  Building  for  sorting  and  elimination.  They  were  about  as 
filthy  a  jumble  as  the  eye  ever  rested  on ;  yet,  they  represent  the  most 
valuable  materials  of  the  city's  administration  for  about  half  a  cen- 
tury. Among  this  miscellaneous  jumble  was  easily  found,  after 
classification,  what  is,  perhaps,  the  most  important  document  attest- 
ing the  city's  rights  in  the  so-called  "  Eleventh  Avenue  Tracks " 
case — a  matter  that  has  been  agitating  the  people  and  the  legislature 
for  years.  The  original  records  of  the  town  of  Harlem  were  secured 
by  a  title  company  of  New  York  City  and  transferred  to  a  second 
party  so  as  to  avoid  inquirers.  Few  local  records  in  the  State  would 
have  as  great  value  to  litigants  and  as  great  interest  to  historians  as 
these;  yet,  they  are  held  in  private  ownership  and  are  inaccessible  for 
public  or  scholarly  uses.  Quite  too  many  of  our  official  records  and 
historical  sources  are  buried  away  by  the  title  companies  of  the  State. 

Again,  recently  the  count}''  clerk  of  Niagara  County  refused  or 
neglected  to  turn  over  to  his  successor  mortgage-tax  records,  and  it 
was  only  after  the  State  board  of  tax  commissioners  threatened  him 
with  mandamus  proceedings  that  he  finally  gave  them  up.  Our 
informant,  who  has  also  pointed  out  the  meagerness  of  the  town 
records  of  Hurley,  New  Paltz,  and  other  places  in  Ulster  County, 
wrote : 

I  have  often  noticed  the  carelessness  existing  in  country  towns  about  keeping 
records.  Few  town  clerks  are  provided  with  safes  in  which  to  preserve  town 
records.  Instead  of  a  town  hall  the  town  officers  are  allowed  to  keep  town 
records  in  their  own  private  houses,  and  very  often  when  they  go  out  of  office 
they  neglect  or  refuse  to  turn  over  these  records  to  their  successors.  I  have 
known  of  instances  [he  says]  where  newly  elected  officers  have  had  to  make 
repeated  demands  upon  their  predecessors  in  office  to  obtain  town  recortls.  If 
you  can  create  a  sentiment  among  the  people  that  will  properly  safeguard  local 
records,  rich  in  historical  association,  you  will  do  something  the  whole  State 
will  some  day  thank  you  most  heartily  for. 

Xow,  I  am  happy  to  report  to  this  conference  of  archivists  that  the 
promotion  of  this  line  of  work  has  been  uppermost  in  my  mind  from 
the  day  that  I  entered  upon  the  office  of  State  historian  of  New  York. 
I  immediately  began  to  draft  a  bill  for  amending  the  law  relating 
to  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  State  historian,  and  this  bill  added 
provisions  with  reference  to  the  public  records  throughout  the  State. 
The  history  of  the  inception,  progress,  and  failure  of  this  legislation 
has  been  written  and  will  be  printed  in  the  next  volume  of  Proceed- 
ings of  the  New  York  State  Historical  Association.1  This  bill  was 
antagonized  by  the  commissioner  of  education,  who  demanded  a 
hearing,  which  was  granted.  The  bill  was  amended  and  passed  the 
assembly  with  only  one  dissenting  vote.    In  addition  to  the  provi- 

1  This  address  on  "  The  Executive  Relation  of  New  York  State  to  Historical  Scholar- 
ship "  has  since  been  printed  in  Proceedings  of  New  York  State  Historical  Association, 
vol.  IX,  (1910),  pp.  199  ff. 


378 


AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


sions  for  reorganizing  the  office,  two  sections  relative  to  records  were 
in  the  bill  as  passed  in  assembly,  viz : 

Sec.  92.  The  State  historian  may  communicate  with  State  and  local  officers 
of  this  State  who  are  entrusted  by  law  with  the  care  or  custody  of  any  books, 
records,  documents,  or  materials  of  historic  value,  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining the  character  and  condition  of  such  materials  of  historic  value.  He 
may  visit  any  public  office  in  the  State,  and  shall  have  access  at  all  reasonable 
times  to  any  such  materials  as  may  be  therein;  and  he  is  authorized  to  index, 
calendar,  or  have  photographed  any  such  materials,  subject  to  such  arrange- 
ments as  may  be  made  with  the  approval  of  the  said  State  and  local  officers. 

Sec  93.  No  State  or  local  officer  shall  destroy,  sell,  or  otherwise  dispose  of 
any  records,  original  or  copied,  or  of  any  archives  in  his  care  or  custody  or 
under  his  control,  and  which  are  no  longer  in  current  use,  without  first  having 
advised  the  State  historian  of  their  nature. 

This  bill  never  got  out  of  the  senate  committee  to  which  it  had  been 
referred.  Instead  thereof  a  complete  substitution  was  made  of  a 
bill  which  had  as  its  sole  object  the  abolition  of  the  State  historian 
as  an  independent  executive  in  the  administrative  government  and 
his  subordination  under  the  commissioner  of  education.  Every  pro- 
vision as  to  public  records,  methods  of  publication,  etc.,  was  gone. 
The  assembly  defeated  this  substitute  by  68  to  25  votes  when  returned 
for  concurrence  in  the  so-called  amendments.  The  defeat  of  our 
original  measure  in  behalf  of  the  public  records — mute  witnesses  of 
our  past  history  and  our  present  prosperity — may  be  characterized 
as  the  severest  tragical  blow  to  New  York's  public  records. 


